There are many aspects about a music therapist’s job that can be very rewarding, and for those of you who are music therapists, you know that we don’t do what we do for the money or the praise. I know that every time I leave the office to go do a music therapy session I am reminded why I love working at my job so much. I love seeing the excitement on my client’s faces when we sing a familiar song, the look of accomplishment they get when they play a drum by themselves, or just the sheer excitement of getting to participate in something “normal.”

Just a couple weeks ago, as I was leading a group for adults with developmental disabilities, a parent of one of my clients came to observe our music therapy session. We were talking about Valentine’s Day and the consumers were excited about a Valentine’s Day dance they were going to have over the weekend. As part of our movement intervention I had decided that we were going to do a little dancing of our own. Most of the clients were dancing with each other or with a staff and I was assisting clients as needed. While everyone was dancing, I noticed that the mom, who was observing our group, had gone over to her son, picked him up from his wheelchair and had started swaying to the music with him. It was a very special moment for the mother and son, and I was once again reminded of why I chose to become a music therapist. It’s the special moments that you can share with the families and clients. It wasn’t that I had done anything extraordinary, but I had simply created an environment in which each of the clients could have a successful experience through music.